About Me

Improving Your Home Landscaping

Few things are more frustrating than a messy front yard. In addition to disrupting your curb appeal, overgrown, messy landscaping can also harbor pests and make it look like you don't care about your property. Fortunately, tidying up your yard doesn't have to be difficult. I have spent years learning more about landscaping, and this blog is all about how to become a landscaping enthusiast. Check out these articles about fun topics like planting flowers, perfecting pruned trees, and decorating your yard with whimsical additions. After you know more about landscaping, your yard might become the talk of the town.

Improving Your Home Landscaping

4 Signs Your Outdoor Crops Need a Drip Irrigation System

by Bill Kuhn

A drip irrigation system, also called a trickle irrigation network, makes it easy for you to produce healthy crops. They system distributes water throughout your backyard or across multiple fields by sending water to the roots of your plants rather than spraying their leaves. This keeps soil dry and helps prevent approximately 170 varieties of disease-causing bacteria from breeding.

Before you get excited about the benefits of an irrigation installation, you might be wondering if you're a good candidate for one. Whether you have a medium-sized garden or an entire field filled with fresh produce, the situations below will help you determine if you need drip irrigation service.

You've Got Weather Woes

Weather can make it difficult to predict your seasonal yield or protect delicate crops from damage. Here are some common weather issues that affect gardeners and farmers:

  • Excessive heat
  • Drought
  • Early frost
  • Heavy wind

You can address all of these weather-related problems with a drip irrigation system. If excessive heat or a drought leave your plants parched, you can water them quickly instead of waiting for rain. When early frost hits and it's hard to penetrate surface soil, you can send water through the ground instead of sprinkling it on frosted soil. If heavy wind makes it difficult to control where your sprinklers send water, you can stream it directly to the roots of your crops. 

Your Crop Maintenance Costs Are High

Maintaining crops can be expensive, but you can reduce costs with a drip irrigation system. It's difficult to control the amount of water dispensed if you use a sprinkler system or gardening hose to water your outdoor plants, so you may use more than you need. This drives up your water usage, which is an issue if you're on a tight budget or live in an area that fines residents for using excessive amounts of water during droughts.  

Some drip irrigation networks use approximately 50% less water than sprinkler systems. They also reduce the energy costs associated with pumping, and they require less maintenance than some of the other crop-watering systems. You can automate a drip irrigation system, which can help you cut back on labor costs if you typically hire workers to maintain your crops.  

Your Crops Aren't Thriving

Do you have weeds sprouting between your crops? Are brown patches slowly spreading across the green leaves of your plants? You can tackle both of these dilemmas with a drip irrigation unit. You can also eliminate issues caused by overwatering, such as wilted leaves or sagging stalks.

Trickle irrigation distributes water evenly, so you don't have to worry about whether your crops receive too much or too little moisture. You control where the water goes, so you can leave the areas between crop rows dry. This helps keep weeds that thrive in moist, humid environments from developing and spreading among your crops. It also helps prevent powerful UV rays from scorching water-sprinkled leaves, flowers, and stalks. 

You Have a Hectic Schedule

Maintaining a garden or crop field requires a significant time commitment that varies depending on how many plants you produce. If you find it difficult or time-consuming to saturate each row with a hose or watering spout, a drip irrigation system can make maintenance easier. Drip irrigation sends a predetermined amount of water to the roots of your crops, freeing you up to focus on harvesting crops or planting new seedlings.

You can save additional time by adding fertilizer to your irrigation unit instead of dispensing it yourself. An added benefit of this practice is that you may save money by reducing the amount of fertilizer required for your crops.

If you can relate to any of the situations above or have similar issues with crop maintenance, talk to a drip irrigation system company like H2O Lawn Sprinklers. A drip irrigation expert can assess the current layout of your garden or field to develop a custom-made irrigation system.

Share